Doe Deere’s original namewas Xenia Vorotova, and she was born in Izhevsk, Russia. She had dreams that the United States was a place where dreams come true. She adapted this opinion from music, movies and magazines about America. When she turned 17, Doe and her family, which included her mother and younger sister moved to the United States looking for something better. They decided to take a chance on New York.

With the population of New York being massively bigger, it was a place that they had to get used to. They new they would have to work their way up from the bottom up as it was a very competitive place. They quickly found out that with their mom’s life savings and insane work ethic was not enough to keep the small family ahead. Taking up odd jobs and doing what they could to make ends meet, this life took its tole on the family. Eventually the family had to move into a homeless shelter in Manhattan. 6 months of living in a homeless shelter was hard on the family. It was during this time that Doe took to day dreaming about being a fashion designer and starting documenting her dream. Through all of this they kept working hard and saving money. The small family was starting to lose hope.

Finally, in 1999 they were introduced to Sanctuary for Families. A non-profit legal organization that helped female immigrants. Here is where they met Dorchen Leidholdt, an inspiring woman who worked as a lawyer and feminist. It was this lady who helped Doe’s mother obtain her first job as an accountant in the states. She also assisted Doe on getting into the Fashion Institute of Technology– which was backed by her sketches from the shelter. Later on she helped Doe’s little sister into Columbia University where she attended on a full scholarship and graduated with honors.

By 2000, the family moved out of the shelter to the Lehman Projects. Not an ideal place to live but a step up from the shelter. Doe and her sister even had their own rooms. It was then that Doe realized that what they had been through as a family taught them to stay together through the hard times and pushed them towards success even more. After going through these hardships, Doe found her passion as an entrepreneur. She started her own makeup business Lime Crime. She states that she couldn’t have reached success in wanting the “American Dream” without the trials that her and her family experienced.